It was a little like finding the wrong gift under the tree, though in today's NHL at least there is no longer the possibility of getting an ugly tie.

Toronto's Colton Orr watches the puck hang in front of the eyes of Buffalo goalie Ryan Miller in first-period action between the Maple Leafs and the Sabres at the Air Canada Centre Dec. 21, 2009.

By:Paul HunterSports Reporter, Published on Tue Dec 22 2009

It was a little like finding the wrong gift under the tree, though in today's NHL at least there is no longer the possibility of getting an ugly tie.

Anytime the Maple Leafs face the Buffalo Sabres, they have to take their joy any way they can get it, even when blowing a late one-goal lead.

On Monday night, the upside was pushing a Buffalo team that had walked all over them for eight straight games coming in – and crushed them in seven straight, by a cumulative score of 29-9, at the Air Canada Centre – into overtime and, at least, receiving a point for that extra work despite coming out at the wrong end of a 3-2 loss.

While a point against a divisional opponent does little for Toronto in a hyper-tight Eastern Conference playoff race, given the alternative and given that, for parts of the game, the Leafs were competitive with their rivals from the far end of the QEW, it is possible to be charitable towards the homeside this holiday season.

Toronto did, after all, take three out of four points in their last two games against Boston and Buffalo, two teams against which the Leafs are usually happy to escape with any sense of pride intact.

"We've had a pretty good run here the last month or so," said defenceman Ian White, one of the Leafs' goal-scorers on the night. "We're still finding our game but we're way ahead of where we were even a few weeks ago. We're making gains. There's lots of season left and we're in a good position here."

That can be argued and that's the downside of coughing this one up.

Despite a 9-5-1 record in the last 15 games (and a 8-1-0 record if you toss out games against Buffalo and Boston), the Leafs still sit in 12th spot in the Eastern Conference and five points out of a potential post-season berth.

The Leafs got a point in this one, but the five teams directly ahead of them in the standings all won outright.

"The biggest thing is winning games right now," said Francois Beauchemin. "We executed our game pretty well for almost three periods but unfortunately we won't get that extra point tonight."

With about just over seven minutes remaining in regulation, the Leafs were clinging to a 2-1 lead and seemed to be getting stronger after turning in patches of scrambly play in their own end. But Buffalo's Jochen Hecht, a thorn in Toronto's side all game, slipped in behind the defensive pairing of White and Beauchemin to lift a rebound past goaltender Jonas Gustavsson.

Then in overtime, Hecht worked some magic again. This time he delivered a perfect pass to Derek Roy in front. Roy deked Gustavsson and tucked in the winner at 3:35 of the extra frame.

"That goes to show why they're in the position they are," said White. "They just kept battling. They're an opportunistic team. They find ways. We had it all but locked up and we couldn't put it away."

The Leafs at least put a couple past Ryan Miller after doing their usual and giving up an early goal – the 26th time in 38 games they've given up the first goal – and they did it by going hard to the net, hoping for a lucky bounce or deflection.

Viktor Stalberg got the first when his centring pass banked in off the skate of big Buffalo defenceman Tyler Myers. Then White got enough of a Lee Stempniak cross-ice pass to direct behind the all-world goalie who brought a league-leading .937 save percentage into this match.

Jonas Gustavsson, making his second consecutive start after Vesa Toskala melted down against these same Sabres in a 5-2 loss Friday, gave up a bad goal to start. But between that one and Hecht's equalizer, he was able to get one of his gangly limbs on Buffalo's best chances. He looked to be guessing a lot but it worked.

"Of course, we always want to win but one point is better than nothing," said Gustavsson. "We were really close to winning tonight. We'd like to have both points but sometimes, you have to take the point you get."

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